Tag Archives: outdoor fun

We’ve been keeping a little secret from the kiddos for the past few weeks and I was SO excited to finally get to do the big reveal today. Thankfully it was it was a gorgeous afternoon, so Sam and I walked to school to pick up Miss G, which allowed me to capture her reaction as we turned the corner onto our street and our front yard came into view. I had no idea how she’d react {kids can be a little bit unpredictable when surprised, can’t they?}, but she was so, so thrilled when she finally realized what it was and that it was ours to keep.

I came up with this idea on a whim the other morning, and it turned out to be a ton of fun! Miss G and I were out playing in her playhouse when I realized how little time we had left to spend surrounded by brightly coloured flowers, big old trees, green grass, and a mountain-filled backdrop before heading back to the Middle East next week. It started with a quick iPhone pic of a particularly beautiful flower, and before I knew it, I had decided I’d create a backyard photo scavenger hunt comprised of all of the pretty little details around the yard.

One thing we just cannot get enough of while in Canada is the awesome parks and playgrounds. During the two years we spent in Vancouver between Kuwait stints, Miss G and I started every morning with a walk around the neighbourhood and an inevitable stop at a playground of some sort. Sadly, in Kuwait that’s just not our reality. Heading out the door for a brisk walk around the neighbourhood is next to impossible, playgrounds are few and far between and not at all well maintained, and much of the year it’s too hot to spend half of your day outdoors {especially on playground equipment}. SO, we make the most of it while we can. A summer filled with park and playground visits simply can’t be a bad thing, right?

This afternoon we tried the neatest thing… Using chalk on the trampoline! My sister-in-law suggested the idea and the kids absolutely loved it. The chalk went on smoothly and vibrantly, and in no time, the trampoline was transformed into a giant chalkboard-esque canvas.

Today we spent another lovely day at our Okanagan favourite, Davison Orchards. If you know me well, you know that my love of Davison’s has been around since I moved to the Okanagan when I was 11 years old. It was a place I loved visiting as a kid, a place I took the kids I babysat and nannied during high school and university, and it’s now a place I love bringing my own daughter. Delicious produce, beautiful views, and endless family-fun aside, I love Davison Orchards because it’s constantly growing and improving while staying true to it’s family-run farm roots – not an easy feat.

Grandma Sue and Rorie joined us today and despite our {very} regular visits, we tried two completely new-to-Gracen things this time around. First off, we jumped aboard the hourly tractor train ride and took a tour of the orchard while learning about its history and different fruits and veggies that are grown there. It’s been a few years since I last took the tour, and I have to say that I love hearing how passionate Grandpa Davison is about his orchard, even after all of these years. While the sitting quietly during the chatting part wasn’t Grae’s favourite part, she did love the ride and hearing about each of the plants/trees as we passed by.

Afterwards, while playing in the Crazy Cow Kid’s Corral, Gracen got to experience her first ever duck race after Grandma Sue gave her a toonie to buy a little rubber duckie. She’d plunk him into the tube, start pumping water, and as soon as he started moving, race to the end of the track to retrieve him. Such fun!

After a good long play, a visit to the animals, and some lunch at Auntie May’s Deep Dish Cafe, we picked up a big jug of Davison’s famous apple juice and headed home with our happy and tired girl. Another great day at Davison Orchards!

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

One of the things I was spoiled with on my recent birthday was a camera lens I’ve been lusting after for a long while now. Though I’ve only had it a few hours, I must say – I think I’m already in love! I took it along on a walk of the family farm tonight and here are some of the images I was able to snap…

As far as my new challenge goes, I have to say I’m loving it! My camera has remained in manual mode since the day of our workshop and every single photo I’ve taken since this post has been shot manually. They certainly haven’t all been good (in fact many have been pitch black), but after two months of practice, I can say without a doubt that I’m so glad I took the leap. My photos are slowly getting better, shooting in manual is much more natural now, and I have a ton more control on what my photos actually turn out like. And I can almost guarantee that this new lens will make the transition that much more fun.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

Gracen has been very anxiously awaiting this day since we first visited the Second Beach playground back in February. From the opposite side of the park, she immediately spotted the seal-shaped water slide in the outdoor pool enclosure and has asked when we’d be able to visit ever since. Sadly, when it opened at the end of May, we had a long bout of rainy, dreary weather, so that prolonged our visit even further… But when we woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day this morning and asked the little lady what she wanted to do, the first thing out of her mouth was “Go to the pool with the seal slide – WOOHOO!” Her fist shot into the air in celebration and our adventure for the day was set.

Surprisingly, the much talked about seal slide was not the hit of the day today… Instead, she was all about this much larger, much faster turtle slide over in the deeper end of the pool. The truth of the matter is that she loved this slide so much that very little swimming actually took place – it was simply slide after slide after slide for pretty much our entire visit, which was totally fine with me. Watching the anticipation as she climbed the steps and the absolute joy as she sped down and splashed into the water melted my heart and filled me with pride. I’m so, so glad our little lady loves water as much as she does.

The only slight downside to our morning was that it was chilly. Very chilly, in fact. Despite the fact that the pool is heated and it truly was a beautiful day, the wind off of the ocean sucked away the warmth and made you shiver the moment your shoulders left the water. And while Grae didn’t seem bothered in the least by it, at a certain point we knew it was time to get out, dry off, and warm up.

But that won’t stop us from returning very soon – Miss G’s already asking when that’ll be!

Second Beach {Outdoor} Pool is located on the west side of Stanley Park. For more information, including schedules and rates, click here.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

First off, I have to say that my Baba is hands down one of the most amazing, wonderful women I know. She’s one of those ladies who can truly do anything… From sewing to cooking to running a farm, fixing things, painting, gardening, building things, and entertaining – she excels at all. Oh, and at 70 something years old, having never used a computer or the internet, she bought herself an iPad and taught herself how to use it too. Amazing, right? (Hi Baba! Love you!) ☺

Growing up, my little brother and I would spend a week or two at my Baba’s house each summer. Our days out at the farm were wonderful. We spent nearly all of our time outdoors… We herded cattle, carried huge buckets of grain out each morning, and watched calves being born. We roamed through massive gardens with freedom to pick and eat as much as we pleased. We devoured fresh peas off the vine, ate up buckets of raspberries, and wandered around with long stalks of rhubarb with little glass bowls of dipping sugar. Baba taught us how to use the ride-on mower, make pedaheh from scratch, and draw with artists’ pencils and shading sticks – all of the things childhoods should be made of.

But above all other adventures and activities that took place on that farm, the one that stands out most in my mind – the one that was most anticipated each year – was building a backyard teepee. Baba would take us out into the forest, small saw in hand, and we’d cut down the trees that would form the structure of our new home. We’d drag them back, position them and tie them up, then drape them in sheets until our teepee was fully enclosed. Perhaps the very best part was furnishing it afterwards. We’d carefully separate the space in half, position our mattresses and end tables (Baba doesn’t mess around), then stock it up with blankets, flashlights, snacks, books, and activities. I can’t even describe how cool it all seemed as a child.

Recently, I introduced the magic of backyard teepees to Miss G. Nothing that could rival one of the ones my Baba used to make, but a teepee none the less. Our first one was a completely impromptu build, but it was so quick and easy that we’ve made them the same way each time since. Here’s how we put together our super simple backyard teepee in no longer than five minutes…

First up, the materials… We use 6 6-foot tall bamboo stakes (purchased at any store that has a decent gardening section), a king-sized sheet, some jute, and 10 – 12 clothespins.

To start out, I push the stakes into the ground just an inch or two to form a circle with an open front. (As you can see, G likes to stand in the middle and have me build around her. ☺)

Next, I gather up the top of the stakes in one hand (there really isn’t a right way to do this – I just grab them and how they come together is how they come together) and use the other hand to wrap the jute around. One thing I try to do while wrapping the jute is to weave it in and out of the stakes – this gives it some better holding power. When the jute seems secure, I tie it off in a bow so it’s easy to undo later.

With the structure built, it’s time to enclose it with the sheet. To do this, I simply drape the sheet around the stakes horizontally with the ends being at the front opening. To hold it in place temporarily, I bring the two sides of the sheet together at the top and secure it using a clothespin and add another two at the base of the two front stakes.

Next up, it’s time fix the positioning a little, smooth everything out, tuck in the extra fabric, and secure it all. I like to start at the front, making sure that both of the front stakes are fully covered and each side has a flap of extra fabric that can be used to close up the teepee completely if desired. To do this, I just tug and adjust until it’s the way I want it. With the sheet positioned properly, I move to the top and add several clothes pins to secure the sheet to the stakes. I usually use four, but you could put one on each of the 6 stakes if you wanted to. Then I go to the bottom and add a pin to each of the stakes, tucking under the extra fabric along the way if needed.

And that’s it – the basic teepee is complete. Super simple, right?

To make ours extra cozy, we always add a blanket in the bottom and a few throw cushions along the sides.

One of Gracen’s favourite parts is selecting an activity to bring into her teepee with her. Most often, it’s a stack of books to read, but today it was a stack of puzzles instead.

When we’re done playing for the day, we normally take down the sheet and bring everything inside, but leave the bamboo stake structure up, which makes for an even faster set up the next time and the time after that and the time after that…

This little blog has led to so many wonderful opportunities, the best of which is undoubtedly being part of Vancouvermom.ca’s Top 30 Bloggers of 2012. These ladies started out as being people I chatted with online with, and very quickly became people I considered ‘blogging friends’, then just regular ‘friends’. I’m so lucky to have them in my life and even sweeter is that Miss G now has a whole new set of friends also. Today we spent the day with Tairalyn, Amy, and their little ladies, and had a blast. There was dancing, bubbles, a sprinkler, a water slide, strawberry picking, sidewalk painting, and yummy treats… Who could ask for more? Here is our morning in photos…

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

Though we had plans to go to Stanley Park this morning for a big pop-up play date, Brad called as we were headed out the door to let us know the ultimate frisbee tournament he was coaching at was just a few blocks from our house. Not having time to do both, I let Miss G make the decision… Her choice? The tournament. I’m willing to guess that Papa + his students + live sports would beat out a playground visit any day. While we were there, the girls absolutely showered her with attention. She got hugs, secret handshake lessons, flower crowns, bubbles blown for her, and plenty of in unison ‘Awwwwwww!’s. It was a good morning.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

While living in a city that gets as much rain as Vancouver does can be a little deflating some days, I know that we’ll miss it dearly once we’re back in the sandy desert. So instead of letting the past week of rain keep us indoors today, we decided to get out and enjoy it. After a morning walk and a long play at the park before lunch, we decided to head back outside this afternoon. We brought along with us a baking sheet, some liquid food colouring (the neon kind), and some white construction paper to do an easy and fun art activity… Rain splatter painting!

To get started, Gracen laid a piece of construction paper down on the baking sheet and fully enjoyed dropping splots of food colouring all over it.

Once she had the food colouring exactly how she wanted it, we simply let the rain do its job. At this point, it was raining quite hard, so the splatter effect happened quickly. Grae loved watching the colours pop up off the page and land back down on the page in little dots. At some point during the process, she’d say “This one is done!” and we’d pop it inside the house to dry and grab another sheet of paper to splatter.

The end result is beautiful, splotchy, watercolour-esque paintings, just like this one. Fun, right?

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

While we’ve done plenty of regular mess-free painting on our sidewalks and fence, today Gracen asked if I’d draw her something to paint. While maybe not as open-ended as I’d usually aim for, I do find that sometimes she prefers having a jumping off point, so I drew an assortment of shapes on the ground using sidewalk chalk. The activity was actually perfect for her new found interest of colouring in the lines, and when the water dried, it left our cement pad covered in beautiful, watercolour-esque shapes. So simple, but she enjoyed so much that she’s already asked to do it again.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

This afternoon the sun was out and I decided to set up something really fun for Grae to explore and experiment with in the backyard.

The set up was pretty simple… Several differently shaped jars and medicine bottles filled with coloured vinegar (we used gel food colouring), a couple of small jars of baking soda, a couple of spoons, and a few empty mixing containers all on a tray. Oh, and some safety goggles. Because in Gracen’s world, science equals goggles. ☺

After helping her with her goggles, Grae set off to work.

As I usually do with this kind of activity, I didn’t give her any instructions. I simply said, “Do you want to play?”

The answer was an excited ‘yes’, and after a few questions about whether or not she could dump/mix/pour things (of course the answer to all was yes), she got started.

While she’s seen the reaction baking soda and vinegar have while moon painting, this was on a much bigger scale.

And she loved it. Mixing a little bit of this with a little bit of that in order to cause colour changes and fizzy foam eruptions was right up her alley.

My little scientist made reaction after reaction, delighting each time she caused foam to spew out of the top of her jar.

One thing that was interesting is how the colour of the vinegar seemed to change with the addition of baking soda. In the case of the orange and the pink, the colours seemed to explode with brightness as the reactions occurred.

With almost all of her baking soda resources used up and her largest jar of vinegar left, we fetched just a little more baking soda from in the house.

It started off slowly, but the reaction did not disappoint. After scrounging leftover baking soda from wherever she could, she managed to create enough fizzing foam to have it flow generously out of the top of the jar. Success!

After she’d depleted her resources, what was left was a beautiful rainbow-y mess. For a little bit of added fun, we filled up a bin with warm soap water, grabbed a cloth, a scrubber brush, and a couple of towels, and had a little dishwashing station right there in the backyard.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.